Timeout in HK have been doing some heavy investigative reportage. Things got a bit messy when American band the Torino’s, on a festive tour of Greater China, sent a press release around via their (duped?) promoters. Among other claims were:
- They were hosted by Jack White’s imprint Third Man Records
- Their debut release had slipped into the Billboard top 40
That big, hard to use tool, the Internet, failed to corroborate any of these claims, prompting a diligent Timeout to contact Third Man Records. The label replied immediately that they had never heard of the band. In fact, they gave this rather ascerbic statement:
The band The Torinos are absolutely in no way associated with Third Man Records. Nobody in our organization has ever had any contact with them, and until today I had never even heard of the band. And now that I have, I am not terribly impressed. In fact, there is little here to recommend to any label, in my opinion.
You can read more at Timeout HERE, and check out the Torino’s MySpace HERE. The lack of information on the Myspace gives clues, but big-up to Timeout for hunting this one down.
It is hard enough promoting relatively unknown international bands in China, without bands that arrive waving CVs that are full-of-shit. Avoid these shows when they come to your town…